For a long time, Leverkusen’s youth work had no effect on the professional team. Now, Francis Onyeka, a 17-year-old, is on his way up. In any case, coach Xabi Alonso thinks highly of the midfielder.
When a coach talks about a young player from their own club, they usually do so in very reserved terms. They don’t want to either hype up the talent and thus expose it to high expectations, nor turn the teenager’s head with excessive praise. It was all the more remarkable how Xabi Alonso spoke about Bayer youngster Francis Onyeka, who will be in the Leverkusen Champions League squad for the first time on Wednesday in the game at Stade Brest.
“He is a player on whom we are pinning a lot of hopes,” explained the Werkself coach, making no effort to hide his appreciation of the 17-year-old DFB youth international, ”he has good dynamics, listens well and is very attentive. But we also have to be patient.” Onyeka, a technically adept left-footed player, is indeed a beacon of hope for the Leverkusen youth program, which is now paying off and which managing director Simon Rolfes has pushed over the years.
Sven Hübscher, last year’s U-19 coach, transformed Onyeka from a winger to a central midfielder, and he is now considered the top talent of Leverkusen’s U-19 team. For his age, his profile is relatively complete: Onyeka has strategic skills, a good passing play, but also recognizes spaces in the depths, which he runs as a box-to-box player and where he can score goals, has a tight and well-placed shot, is intelligent in games and proves to be adept at defensive duels.
The boy from Gummersbach came to Leverkusen from Borussia Lindenthal-Hohenlind when he was seven years old and could become the first Bayer home-grown player after Kai Havertz (25, Arsenal FC) to mature into a Bundesliga player in Leverkusen. It is not for nothing that Rolfes said about Onyeka’s contract extension until 2027 in November 2023: “Francis is a child of the club and of Bayer 04 through and through. I am all the more pleased with his excellent development.”
They believe that he has what it takes to make it as a professional under the Bayer Cross. Rolfes paid tribute to Onyeka on Friday when he was awarded the Fritz Walter Gold Medal, saying that, in addition to his talent, he has the right attitude: “Francis has absolutely earned this award. His football talent is undisputed. Added to that is his great willingness to work for the team and his great character. He always wants to go the extra mile.”
Onyeka was in Brittany to get a taste of things. ‘He should feel and experience what it means to play in the Champions League,’ explained Xabi Alonso, ”he should stay close to us, learn and improve.”
Onyeka owes his first call-up to the Champions League squad to the car accident of Victor Boniface, who was absent in France but could be ready to play again as early as Saturday in Bremen. “Boni is not here, so we needed someone else,” said Xabi Alonso, explaining Onyeka’s nomination. Incidentally, this is his second appearance in a competitive match for the professionals. Onyeka made his bench debut in the first round of the DFB Cup against Jena (1-0), when Boniface (then serving a suspension) was also missing, among others.